Tahucheng Tourist Area

Tahucheng Tourist Area is situated in the northern part of Qian Gorlos Mongolian Autonomous County, near Suma Village in Balang Township of Baicheng Prefecture, to the east of Chagan Lake. It is 50 kilometres north of the county seat and 10 kilometres southeast of Da’an County Seat. This ancient city ruin of the Liao Dynasty is listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

The site lies in Balang Town northeast of Chagan Lake, right at the confluence of the Nenjiang River and the Second Songhua River. The name "Tahu" means bighead carp in Mongolian, derived from the abundant bighead carp in nearby Chagan Lake. According to historical records, the city was first built in the second year of the Taiping reign of Emperor Shengzong of the Liao Dynasty (1022 AD), nearly a thousand years ago. Its original name was Changchun Prefecture.

Facing south, the square-shaped ancient city was enclosed by rammed-earth city walls stretching 11 li in circumference. Despite wars and almost a millennium of wind and rain erosion, the remaining walls still stand over five metres high. Foundations of ancient buildings inside the city can still be clearly distinguished, a testament to the massive scale and superior construction quality of the project.

Four city gates were built on the four sides, each protected by an outer barbican. Every 70 metres along the wall stood a watchtower, totalling 64 towers. The distance between two adjacent towers was exactly an arrow’s shot, allowing mutual support against surprise enemy attacks. A turret was erected at each of the four corners. The round turrets jutted out beyond the wall and rose higher than the ramparts for observing movements both inside and outside the city.

In the northwest of the city lie ruins of a major building, traditionally known as the Golden Palace where emperors of the Liao and Jin dynasties issued imperial edicts and summoned tribal chieftains and foreign envoys during their spring hunting trips. Two moats encircled the city walls, turning Tahucheng into a strongly fortified stronghold that was easy to defend and hard to capture.

As a key military stronghold of the Liao and Jin dynasties, Tahucheng connected with Huanglongfu in the south, guarded the junction of the Songhua and Nenjiang rivers in the north, bordered Taizhou City to the west, and controlled the vital passage leading to Linhuangfu, the Upper Capital of the Liao Empire in the southwest.

Beyond its military significance, Tahucheng was also a thriving Buddhist sacred land and a bustling trading hub. Remains show a well-planned street network dotted with official mansions, government offices, pavilions and temples, reflecting the prosperity of the era.

As the couplet goes: Once a mighty stronghold, its prosperity has flowed away with time;

Only broken ramparts remain to witness the vicissitudes of history.

The ancient city and a wealth of unearthed cultural relics serve as local teaching materials for patriotic education and historical materialism. As one of the best-preserved Liao-Jin ancient city ruins in Jilin Province, Tahucheng forms a key cultural attraction of the Chagan Lake Tourist Zone. It carries great academic value for the research on politics, military affairs, economy and culture of the Liao and Jin dynasties, and has long attracted close attention from historians and archaeologists.